A Transfusion for Democracy

Beginning of article

Every couple of years, the Kappan presents a special section devoted to educational practices abroad. We educators can learn much from studying the strategies of other nations for dealing with problems that are common to us all.

On a broader scale, our nation as a whole could learn a thing or two by attending to the ways in which other industrialized nations keep their citizens apprised of the status of their social health. To recognize, debate, and resolve social problems, the public requires a steady stream of good information.

Yet in the U.S., the spotlight - whether from the White House, from the statehouses, or from the mass media - has failed to focus on the fact …